I Will Destroy Him
by angstylullaby
Summary: After Ben assaults Emily at the locker room, Spencer has to make sure that he will never try to hurt the swimmer again. This leads to an interesting development in the girls' relationship. Spemily. Oneshot.


**Firstly, I know I have to continue writing Little Bit of Truth, and I will. I just had this idea and I simply needed to write it down.**

**It's slightly AU, which means I haven't followed the series' story line entirely.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this oneshot!**

* * *

**I Will Destroy Him**

"HE DID WHAT?!" the usually husky voice of Spencer Hastings echoed loudly through the walls of one of Rosewood High's bathroom. Emily had just told the young genius about what had happened with Ben in the girls' locker room. How he had sneaked up on the swimmer as she was retrieving her clothes from her locker. How he had tried to coerce her into making out after questioning her latest behavior around him and how he had got nearly violent when she tried to push him away. Had it not been for Toby Cavanaugh pushing him off of her, who knows what could have happened? After yelling that it was over between them and storming out to a safer place in the locker room to finally change back to her regular clothes, she had wandered through the school's corridors feeling extremely disorientated - forgetting that her mother was expecting her, even - until the moment she spotted Spencer grabbing books from her locker. Undoubtedly, she had taken hold of her brown haired friend's arm and led her into the bathroom. She really needed to talk to someone.

Spencer's eyes were now wide in fury and the hazel that colored them had darkened. Her hands were clenched so tight that her fingernails were starting to dig through the clear skin of her palms. It couldn't be denied that the re-establishment of her friendship with Emily and the rest of the liars were yet fresh, however, after Aria departed to Iceland it was from Hanna that she had drifted the most. Somehow, she had been able to maintain a certain level of closeness with Emily and was, as she had always been, very protective of her. And such characteristic increased constantly since the liars' encounter at Alison's funeral. Spencer wasn't completely certain of why it was so strong, though, which had made her spend more than one entire afternoon writing down everything relating to it – and to Emily, consequently – that her mind could produce, only to end up throwing the papers at the trash bin in clueless disappointment. Or maybe it was pure denial and self-misleading.

"Spencer…?" Emily called, arching an eyebrow. She was still a bit startled from what had happened, but she had to admit that the reaction the information had caused in her friend was rather odd.

"I will destroy him." Spencer growled.

"Calm down, Spence, I'm okay now. " Emily said, trying to sound as steady as she could.

"Only because Toby showed up." The uneasy brunette protested. "It could have been way worse if he hadn't."

"I thought you didn't trust him." Emily questioned, feeling confused and, yet, mentally thanking the sketchy boy for saving her. Spencer crossed her arms defensively and her mouth twisted the tiniest bit, almost as if her last sentence had brought an awful taste to her tongue. Before she could say anything else, Emily checked her watch and her expression changed into a worried one.

"I have to go. See you tomorrow, Spence." She exclaimed before rushing out of where they were. Spencer sighed in frustration and leaned her skinny figure against the closest wall. There was definitely something that she though was off with herself and it had started to become evident when Emily introduced her to the girl who was now living in Alison's house, Maya. The swimmer's interaction with her had not gone unnoticed by Spencer. She saw the same spark in Emily's eyes that she'd had when Alison was still alive. She knew what that spark was – she most likely was the only one that had put two and two together back in the Alison days - and she somehow wished that it was directed to her and not Maya. And it got her uncomfortable, for she knew what that meant. But she refused to say it out loud.

And now there was the incident with Ben. Well, _that_ she was definitely able to deal with. Never in a million years would she let him get away from what he'd done. Even if he had already got beaten up by Toby.

* * *

The next day, the girls were sitting together at the school cafeteria, discussing the previous day's event when Ben approached them, his face showing pure grimace, besides the very noticeable bruise on its left side.

"Emily, we need to talk." He demanded. Emily furrowed her brow and scooted closer to Spencer, who was sitting beside her and sending Ben a glare of repulse.

"There's nothing to talk about. Just leave me alone." The swimmer hissed. Ben stepped forward, ready to try and grab Emily's arm, when Spencer stood up and shoved his hand away.

"She told you to leave her alone. And unless you have a hearing problem, that's what you're going to do." Ben stared her down, surprised by the girl's attitude and the murderous energy that was emanating from her.

"Do you have a problem with me, nerd?" He asked, trying his best to sound threatening. Everyone went silent and proceeded to watch them. Spencer chuckled mockingly and took a few steps in his direction before facing him.

"As a matter of fact, I do." She stated; her infamous Hastings smirk painted on her face.

"You don't even know me." He growled.

"Oh but I do." Spencer now spoke loudly and the whole cafeteria was able to listen. "All too well. You're the man. Dates the pretty girls. High school is your kingdom." The crude sarcasm in Spencer's voice was clear. Ben clenched his fists, insecure for not knowing where the situation was going. "But, people, Ben's a bully. Why? It would be way too easy to say Ben preys on the weak because he's simply a dick." Hanna and Aria giggled. "No, Ben's more complex than that. According to leading psychiatrists Ben is a bully for one of three reasons. One." Spencer raised her right hand, holding up one finger. "Under all that male bravado there's an insecure little girl banging on the closet door trying to get out. Two." She held up a second finger. "Like a caveman, Ben's brain is underdeveloped. Therefore, Ben is unable to use self-control, so he acts out aggressively. And the third reason…" She held up a third finger, her smirk growing wider as she waited a few seconds to make her audience expectant. "Ben has a small wiener." The entire cafeteria erupted into hysterical laughter and she feigned charging at Ben, who recoiled, earning another chuckle of contempt from her. He frowned and finally walked away from the liars' table. Spencer sat back down, instantly receiving a high-five from Hanna.

"The memorable ruin of Ben Coogan, ladies and gentlemen." Aria said proudly. "That was awesome, Spence." Spencer sent her a cocky smile, then turned to look at Emily, who had remained silent during the whole scene, and that was now staring at Spencer in a way she had never noticed before. It appeared that the Filipino girl had just had an epiphany of some sort. Spencer's cockiness instantly faded and was replaced by a brutal wave of shyness. She had to glance down to avoid her friends form seeing the intense blush that appeared on her cheeks and neck.

"I don't even know how to thank you for that." She heard Emily say in a nearly whispered tone. It almost seemed she was breathless, but Spencer assumed it was her mind trying to play games with her.

"You're my friend, Em, I just couldn't let him harass you." She explained, still avoiding to look up. Her breath hitched as she felt a hand squeezing her knee.

"You're sweet."

* * *

A while later, as Spencer finished placing the material she wouldn't need for her studies inside her locker, she spotted Ben standing a few feet away. He seemed disturbed. However, not disturbed enough, in Spencer's mind. The scene at the cafeteria had managed to keep him away from Emily that day. Still, there was a possibility that in a near future he could try to do something in vengeance. She debated internally for a moment before deciding that something else than making fun of the boy in public was necessary to keep Emily protected. Taking a breath, she regained a confident posture and glanced around briefly to make sure that there weren't many people around before walking towards Ben with quick steps. He sent her a suspicious look and crossed his arms as he noticed her.

"What do you want now?" He asked. She used her forearm to push him against the wall. His eyes widened – for a skinny girl, she was way stronger than he thought – his shock made him freeze and he simply gulped, unable to react.

"Listen, asshole." She hissed. "As much as I appreciate the ebullient entertainment we provided everyone at lunch today, I was definitely not joking. If you ever get near Emily again, if you ever talk to her, if you even _look_ at her inappropriately, I will make sure that I introduce my field hockey stick to your privates. Am I understood?" She pressed her arm harder against his clavicles. Terrified, the boy nodded. "Good. Now get out of my sight." Spencer finally released him and watched, amused, as he clumsily ran away.

* * *

Now at the parking lot, Spencer was in her car, getting ready to leave, when the passenger door swung open and someone sat by her, shutting it close a second afterwards. Spencer flinched at first, expecting it to be Ben who had taken the opportunity that she was alone to come and punish her for her threats, but then let out a relieved sigh as her gaze met a very nervous looking Emily.

"You startled me." She stated.

"Sorry." Emily's hand gripped at her seat. She seemed overwhelmed by uncertainty. Spencer immediately sensed that there was something bothering her friend's mind.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern beaming from her eyes. Emily remained silent, not looking directly at her. "Em…?" In an act of impulse, Emily turned to Spencer, cupped her cheek with one hand and pulled her closer before firmly pressing their lips together. It ended as quickly as it begun and with a desperate 'don't tell', she hurried out of Spencer's car. The now extremely confused brunette placed a hand on her own lips. The shock of Emily's actions had affected her with such strength that she hadn't had the chance to react. In that second, however, the denial she had been feeding whenever the swimmer crossed her mind stopped existing.

* * *

Emily found herself lying on her bed, feeling like the biggest idiot in the face of Earth. She had kissed Spencer Hastings. After having promised to herself that she would never again get involved with a friend because of everything that Alison had put her through. Hell, she couldn't even agree to start something with Maya because of her insecurities regarding her sexuality – she had realized that it was not the only reason, though, since her quirky neighbor had not once crossed her mind after Spencer stood up for her in the cafeteria - and now this. Her group of friends had barely reunited and now it would probably get ruined by her reckless actions. Spencer would probably never want to see her face again. What was she thinking? The girl was obviously straight. There was no chance that she could reciprocate her newly discovered feelings.

Before her inner ranting could continue, there was a knock on the door. Emily groaned in frustration. In no way she wanted to deal with her mother at that moment. She could never dare to spill her problems to her, anyway.

"I want to be alone." She nearly yelled. The door opened, despite her protest. "I said I want to be alone!"

"Forgive me for it, but I'm not granting you that wish." That naturally hoarse voice definitely did not belong to Pam Fields. Emily turned on the bed and was met with worrying hazel eyes.

"Spencer." The brunette immediately felt panic start to run through her veins. She sat up and cleared her throat before hugging her own torso. "What are you doing here?"

"Your mom let me in." Spencer said in a carefree tone that disguised her true emotions almost perfectly. She closed the door and sat next to Emily on the bed, staring directly at her. "You know…you can't just kiss someone and then leave them there without any explanation. It's a very disharmonious lack of etiquette."

"I…what?" Emily frowned, intrigued by her friend's calm attitude. "You're not mad?" Spencer let out an unusually shy chuckle.

"Of course not." She replied. "Well, actually, yes. But only at myself." Emily looked as confused as she could ever be when Spencer reached hesitantly for her hand and laced their fingers together. "For not kissing you back."

"Do you mean…?" Emily gulped, still not believing in what was happening. "You…"

"I like you, Em." Spencer admitted and a blush crept on her face. "As in more than friends. I guess I have felt this way forever, but I was never brave enough to be honest about it. I kept trying to convince myself it was only my protective nature speaking whenever I confronted Alison for cruelly leading you on."

"You really did that?" Emily asked, feeling sudden warmth in her heart. Spencer nodded. "Was I that obvious?" She questioned, impressed that someone had noticed her feelings for Alison in the past other than Alison herself.

"To me you were, at least." Spencer stated. "But I never said a thing, 'cause I was waiting for you to feel comfortable enough to talk about it."

"I still don't know if I'm comfortable with who I am, though." Emily sighed and her almond brown eyes saddened. Spencer gave her hand a light squeeze.

"Maybe I can help." She said timidly as she proceeded to caress the other brunette's hand with her thumb. "Maybe we can learn to be comfortable with it together." Emily bit her lip. This was completely different from what she had experienced in the past. Alison had constantly teased her, only to leave her with no hope and a broken heart. Spencer was now offering her care and reassurance. The speed of her heartbeats and her current feeling of safety told her that her fears no longer were so relevant. She smiled sweetly and softly kissed Spencer's cheek.

"That would make me very happy."

* * *

**You must have noticed that I took the cafeteria scene from the movie '17 Again'. The reason was that I thought it suited Spencer's sarcastic personality prefectly. I hope I was right.**

**Please review!**

**~angstylullaby**


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